Described by Goethe as the “universal city where every step upon a bridge or a square recalls a great past,” Paris is as rich in its two millennia of history as it is in its beauty, its romance, and its art. It’s the city of Marcel Proust and Coco Chanel, of Edith Piaf and Jean-Paul Sartre, of Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, of Left Bank cool and the twinkling lights of the Tour Eiffel by night.

It was also on the banks of the Seine that Niépce and Daguerre officially gave birth to the new art of photography, and in this evocative tapestry of images, we celebrate the city’s remarkable photographic, as well as cultural, architectural, and civic history. Some 300 pictures bring together past and present, the monumental and the everyday faces and vistas, as well as the talents of such illustrious photographers as Daguerre, Marville, Atget, Lartigue, Brassaï, Kertész, Ronis, Doisneau, and Cartier-Bresson. These are complemented by an extensive appendix of around 100 books, movies, and records inspired by the city of lights.